Shane's Side
by i.am.not.a.writer11
Summary: The beginning of season 1 (from Rick getting shot to Shane barricading him in the hospital) focusing on Shane's point of View


*Disclaimer* - I am not a writer and this is my first EVER piece of FanFiction. Reviews are welcome but please be gentle. Also, if people like it I have more to add more chapters, so feedback is appreciated. I hope you enjoy. :)

Shane raced his police car up to the school where he knew Lori would be waiting for Carl.

_ How am I going to tell her this happened? How could I have been so stupid? _Shane wondered as Lori spotted him and walked over.

"Is he alive?" was all she could say, after a moment of just staring at Shane.

"He's in surgery." The school bell rang. Carl will be coming out of the building in a few minutes.

"How?"

"There was a radio call, it said that there was two suspects in a car, but there was a third man. Somebody screwed up. I screwed up. And I… I just did not see him in time" Shane tried to explain, "Lori, it's my fault."

"I don't believe that," Lori replied. She turned, facing the school. She and Shane saw Carl walk out of the school. He spotted them, smiled, and waved, walking towards his mother.

"What do I say?" Lori asked. "How do I tell my son his father's been shot?"

"You don't have to do it alone," Shane answered, as Lori began walking towards Carl. She gets down on her knees in front of her son and takes his hands in hers. Lori tells Carl what has happened, and puts her hand on his face as he begins to cry. Shane looks on from ten yards away as Lori takes Carl in her arms, wondering how he could have let this happen and what he can possibly do to make it up to them.

Shane didn't sleep that whole night. He had spent the rest of the day with Lori and Carl at the hospital waiting for Rick to get out of surgery. All night he kept hearing the doctor's words playing over and over in his head. "He's alive, but hurt badly. We put him in a medically induced coma. There's nothing else we can do now, we just have to wait."

He finally got out of bed at around noon. The Sheriff had given him a week off of work because of what happened, but he wasn't sure that would help him. Shane felt numb. He took a shower, turning the water up as hot as it went so it was nearly burning his skin, but he couldn't feel anything. He knew he had to eat, but every time he tried to make himself food he'd just find himself staring off, going over every little detail of the shooting, trying to figure out how exactly he went wrong.

After finally deciding he wasn't going to eat anything, he got dressed and drove the five minutes down the road to check on Lori and Carl. When no one answered the door, he let himself in. He found Lori in the kitchen on her hands and knees scrubbing the linoleum floor.

"Lori…" Shane began.

"Carl spilled Kool-Aid here last summer," Lori replied. "I always used to complain about how much I hated the stain. I wanted Rick to replace the whole floor." She turned to look up at Shane, her face was red and puffy; it was clear she had been crying for a while. "Why didn't I just clean the stain?" she questioned, then turned and continued scrubbing. Shane walked over to Lori and got her on her feet. He took her in his arms as she broke down.

"It will be okay," he whispered. "Everything will be okay. I promise." After a moment, Shane led Lori to sit at the kitchen table while he made her a coffee and got her to calm down. "Where's Carl?" Shane asked.

"I sent him to the neighbors," Lori answered. "He doesn't fully understand what's going on. I didn't want him to see me like this." Lori and Shane sat in silence in the kitchen until Lori decided she was going to go visit Rick in the hospital.

"I'll go with you," Shane offered, "You shouldn't have to go there alone."

"No, you don't have to," Lori insisted, "I just want to be alone with my husband."

"I'll wait outside. They won't let me work, there's nothing else for me to do," Shane replied.

When they arrived at the hospital, the nurses told them Rick's condition was unchanged. Lori went into the room and sat beside Rick, while Shane stood in the hallway outside, looking through window in the ICU. Seeing Rick like that, just lying there helpless, only made Shane blame himself even more. _I should've known better_ , Shane thought. _We should've checked the car. This should've never happened._

After about an hour, Lori let herself out of the room use the bathroom. Shane took Lori's spot in the chair by Rick's side. "Hey bud, it's me, it's Shane." _This is stupid, I doubt he can even hear me_, Shane thought, but talking to Rick seemed to bring him comfort. "Listen man, I'm sorry I let this happen. I was stupid. Please come back to us. Please don't leave. I'll never forgive myself if you don't wake up." Shane looked up out the window and saw Lori stopped at the nurse's station. "Don't worry Bud, I'll take care of her while you get better. And Carl too. That boy idolizes you Rick, you have to get better for them. You have to come back for your wife and your boy." Shane saw Lori walking back towards the room and stood up to let her reclaim her space by Rick's bedside.

Over the next week, Shane visited Rick almost every day. When he wasn't at the hospital, he was at the Grimes home helping Lori by doing odd jobs and playing catch with Carl after school.

A week after the shooting Shane was allowed to return to work. At the end of the day, Shane went to the hospital to bring Rick the flowers the police station bought him. Rick was still in a coma. Seeing his best friend like that, just lying there, hooked up to so many machines, lifeless, killed Shane inside.

_This is all my fault_, he thought, as he walked up to the side of Rick's bed.

"Hey Bud, we're still here, we're still hanging in." Even though he didn't know if Rick could hear him, Shane always talked to Rick. He liked the idea that Rick knew everything he was saying, he just couldn't answer. "I'm sorry man, I know it's the same crap every time I come in here." Shane sighs. "Everybody pitched in on these," Shane says holding up the vase of colorful flowers, "They uh, said they wanted me to bring them down, and they send their love and just, they hope you come back real soon so…." He trails off. Laughing, Shane continues. "Linda and Diane, they picked these out. You can probably tell. I'm just gonna set these on your side table, okay?"

Weeks went by. Rick had been moved out of the ICU and into the long-term care unit. Shane's visits to the hospital became less frequent, but he still visited Lori and Carl every day to check in. Even though it had been almost a month, Rick's status hadn't changed and Shane still felt as responsible as ever.

One morning, about a month after the shooting, Shane turned on the television to watch the news before work. He rarely turned it on because he hated seeing all the ridiculous stories that the station considered to be news. He immediately regretted his decision to turn the TV on when he heard the news anchor talking about zombie attacks in the United States. "What a bunch of crackpot bullshit," Shane muttered as he clicked the TV of and headed to work.

While Rick was in the hospital, Shane had been assigned a temporary partner. Officer Brad Jameson was fresh out of the academy and as green as they came. Every day with him made Shane miss his old partner and best friend even more.

"Hey, did you catch the news this morning?" Jameson asked as he got into the passenger seat of the cruiser. "They were talking about zombie attacks. Isn't that crazy?" Shane grunted, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What do you think makes people turn into zombies? Do you think they'll find a way to stop this?" Jameson continued. "What if this is like, the beginning of an apocalypse."

"Stop being an idiot," Shane snapped. "Zombies aren't real; it's just someone's crazy reports, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster." Jameson immediately quieted down and Shane thought that was the end of talk about zombies.

It wasn't. Talk of zombies, or "walkers" as they were being called, was everywhere. You couldn't turn on a TV or radio without hearing about walkers. The government was telling people to be on high alert and not to go out at night. The public were buying guns at an astounding rate, and as a result, Shane was very busy at work. Despite all of this, Shane still wasn't convinced that he believed the hype. He still hadn't seen one of these walkers. He was sure this was all in everybody's head.

Everything changed when one night Shane and Jameson responded to what they thought was a routine break in call. They arrived at the quiet suburban home to find the front door ajar. Shane told Jameson to stay at the front of the house while he went to check around the back.

"Listen kid, keep your eyes open and your gun drawn," Shane instructed. "If someone comes out of that door with a gun, you shoot."

Shane moved around the house, looking in the windows to see if he could see anyone inside. The only lights he saw on were on the second floor, but he could not see inside the windows.

_BANG! BANG!_

Shane heard shots at the front of the house, followed by Jameson yelling. He ran around the house to see Jameson on the ground with something on top of him biting his throat. It looked like a man, except not quite. _This is what they've been talking about_, Shane thought, remembering all of Jameson's babbling in the car about walkers. _Holy shit, this is real!_

Shane drew his gun and fired twice at the walkers head, immediately putting its attack to a stop.

He turned and ran to the car. Putting the sirens on, he raced to Lori and Carl. _I need to get them out of here. I need to make sure they are safe_.

He raced through the streets, screeching to a stop in front of the Grimes home. He left the car running as he ran up the driveway and burst into the house without even knocking.

"Lori, we need to go! NOW!" Shane shouted, "Get everything you need. Quick! I need to get you somewhere safe!" Lori walked out of the kitchen, confused.

"Shane, what on Earth are you talking about?"

"The walkers, from the news, they're real. I just saw one, it killed Jameson. We need to go!"

"Shane you're being crazy, the government has everything under control. I am not leaving this house. I am not leaving without Rick."

"Lori we need –"

"No, leave if you have to but I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine, but at least let me stay here the night just to be sure you're safe."

"If you must," Lori conceded, "You know where the couch is."

That night the world turned upside down. The next morning Shane and Lori awoke to news of the military invading Georgia and beginning to evacuate certain areas. They had hidden the extent of the outbreak and now it was out of the government's control.

Shane went to the hospital to visit Rick, knowing that before long he, Lori, and Carl would be evacuated to a refugee center.

"I don't know what's happening man, the world's all screwed up." Shane had never given up his habit of talking to Rick despite his comatose state. "There's people coming back from the dead, attacking and eating other people. I don't know how to handle this. I don't know how to keep Lori and Carl safe anymore. She won't listen to me; she won't leave without you."

All of a sudden, Shane hears a commotion in the hallway outside of Rick's room. He opens the door, only to see doctors and nurses being rushed down the hallway by soldiers.

"Hey! Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ma'am! Ma'am!" Shane grabbed the arm of one of the nurses, forcing her to stop.

"Ma'am please, please." The nurse pulled away, continuing down the hallway.

"Can you help me?" Shane asks, walking into the hallway. Looking around, he spots a gurney down the hall. He runs to get it, but as he turns back he sees the soldiers shooting the hospital staff. He watches, horrified, as the soldiers deliver a single shot to each person's head.

_What is going on?_ Shane thought to himself. _Aren't the soldiers supposed to be helping? Why are they shooting everyone?_

Suddenly, Shane sees walkers emerge from behind the soldiers and attack.

_This is my chance_. While the soldiers are preoccupied with the attacking walkers, Shane wheels the gurney back to the door of Rick's room. He closes the door behind him as he runs up to Rick's bed, shoving aside the bedside table and pushing back Rick's sheets.

"I'm gonna get you outta here bud," Shane tells an unconscious Rick. He tries to pick Rick up, only to notice all of the tubes and machine his friend is attached to. He places Rick back down, and moves around to the other side of the bed to inspect the machine.

Crouching down next to Rick's bed, he asks, "What do I do?"

Unexpectedly, he hears someone opening the door. He ducks beneath the bed and holds his breath.

_This is it. They're going to find and kill me too_. He hears the door close. Afraid of what he might see, Shane slowly peeks over the bed. Seeing that the soldier had left, he turns his attention back to Rick, lying lifeless on his hospital bed.

"Listen to me. If you're gonna wake up, I need you to do it now! Okay? Now! Please man, just show me a sign!" Shane pleaded with his comatose best friend. "Please Rick!"

There was a load crash and the room went dark. Shane recoiled back to beneath the bed. When he stands back up he sees that all of Rick's machines have gone out. He stands up over Rick, concerned that without the machine his friend will not survive. He leans down; listening for a heartbeat, then puts his head down on Rick's chest, accepting the inevitable. After a moment, Shane stands up, crying.

"No," he whispers to himself in the darkness of the hospital. He puts his hand on Rick's face, as if to close his eyes, even though they had never been open. Taking a deep breath, Shane knows there is no hope. Taking care of Lori and Carl is up to him, but if he is to survive he has to get out of the hospital now.

"Okay," he says, trying not to panic. He takes one last look at his best friend, then exits the hospital room, gun drawn. Looking down the hallway, he sees soldiers shooting more people. He begins to advance towards them, but stops when he hears the growl of walkers at the opposite end of the hallway. He runs back to Rick's door and opens it, almost hoping Rick will be awake. Seeing Rick is still unconscious on the bed, he closes the door to the room. The walkers were advancing towards him. He could not bear the thought of Rick's body being torn apart by these monsters. Taking the gurney he left in the hallway, Shane barricades the door to Rick's room, hoping it would keep them out. When he is convinced the room is secure, Shane runs down the hallway away from the walkers.

_How in hell am I going to tell them I screwed up again. How can I tell them that Rick is dead?_


End file.
